A Charming New Year
by les-lenne
Summary: One day Akihiko gets Charmed, and he stays charming for way too long; long enough that it threatens his life.


**Title:** A Charming New Year

**Fandom:** Persona 3

**Characters:** Shinji/Aki, Mitsuru

**Word Count:** ~10k

**Warnings:** Spoilers!

**Rating:** R

**Summary:** One day Akihiko gets Charmed, and he stays charming for way too long; long enough that it threatens his life.

Akihiko had been acting strange lately. It wasn't what she'd have called strange for normal teenagers their age, but it was definitely off behavior for him. He was trying to form social bonds with his classmates and had decided that one day a week without training wasn't going to kill him. She had watched this with growing caution, but on the other hand, she had her own problems that needed her attention. Unless Akihiko had really changed as much as he was trying to make everyone else believe, she wouldn't get a proper answer out of him anyway.

It became remarkably harder to consider him a reliable team member whenever they would go to Tartarus, as was planned for tonight too. A few weeks, then it'd be New Year's Eve. She wanted to make sure that the Shadows wouldn't cause more havoc than usually on this day and therefore had pushed both herself and Akihiko to their limits.

Mitsuru looked at the image of a girl's face in the mirror. She hardly recognized herself in the pale, expressionless redhead. Her hair was a mess and so she took her comb for the twelfth time this evening and tried to straighten the worst parts. Most of it looked like she had natural curls by now. When she had started combing her hair, the resemblance of one having put a finger into a socket had been more precise.

A knock on the door. She looked at the clock beside the mirror. "What is it?"

"Uh," the voice of Akihiko said, muffled through the thick wood. "It's just about half an hour left, Mitsuru. I think we should get going?"

She could basically hear the sweat from his latest jog in his voice. Maybe he wanted to take a shower before they went fighting. An unlikely thought for a practical guy like Akihiko. He'd rather save water, time, and money. Then again, mere minutes ago she had mused about the difference in his behavior. She opened the door for him. "Come in."

Akihiko's eyes were wide and, indeed – he was still wearing his training sweater which still smelled like boy instead of man. Mitsuru turned around before she allowed her lips to curl up in a slight but definite grin. She waited for him to say something, and when he didn't after she had tended to the last strands of undiplomatic hair, she said: "I'm ready."

"Yes," Akihiko said. He seemed nervous, with the way one of his feet was angled like a crooked rod in relation to the other one.

Mitsuru cocked an eyebrow. "Let's go."

Akihiko pursed his lips, turned around and went downstairs. Mitsuru followed him. Something had happened, she simply didn't have any idea what it might have been. Only that he was upset about it and that he probably wanted to talk about, but had no idea how to address the issue. She wasn't in the mood to prod him. Unfortunately, fighting alongside someone who was lost in thought was still worse than fighting alongside someone incompetent.

"How was your day?" she asked him on their way out.

Akihiko pushed his hands into the wide pockets of his pants. They were loose and the epitome of what was currently wrong with its owner. Mitsuru shook her head, a little.

"Good."

"Ah?"

He squirmed, his hands visibly clenching beneath the cloth.

"Don't lie to me," she said.

"Later."

She grabbed his wrist and stared him in the eyes for a moment. His gaze was unsteady and he tried to flee from her examination. He was putting his weight from one foot to the other every few seconds. Eventually she released him and nodded. Whatever it was, it would have to wait. Hopefully the prospect of having someone to talk to later would put Akihiko at ease, and not endanger their lives.

They needed less time than usually to arrive at the uncoordinated pile that was Tartarus by night, and school by day. If she had not seen it as often as she already had, she wouldn't believe it was possible. Sometimes she still had her doubts. Mitsuru considered herself a rational person. Tartarus was anything but, and she couldn't not believe it was real. The fights she fought inside the surreal building were far too threatening as to delude herself.

Mitsuru looked at Akihiko briefly, but he seemed no different now. Maybe he had calmed down by some miracle. He seemed concentrated. His eyes were narrowed a bit, yet not enough to make him look unsettled. Mitsuru tried to smile, just to reassure herself that nothing would happen. The bad feeling stayed in place. It was clutching her heart and kneading the muscles with its sharp claws.

She straightened her back and went inside.

Tartarus's first floor looked about the same as last time they had gone there for an exploration. The dim blue light didn't raise her spirits. At least it didn't darken her mood either. She glanced at Akihiko again. He was pulling his leather gloves over his hands. They fit neatly to an extent that made her wonder how he could move his fingers still. The gloves left red lines on his wrists when he took them off after Tartarus; Shinjiro had made some crude jokes about this back when they had been a trio.

Things had been easier and harder. She knew Akihiko wanted Shinjiro back on the team. If she wanted it? Really wanted it? She wasn't sure. Shinjiro's specialty was his brute strength, the aggression he put into his every attack. Yet Shinjiro's other specialty was losing his temper. He was mentally unstable, and he probably didn't even know how to hide it. Maybe he wasn't even aware of it.

She gritted her teeth and told herself not to ponder this. She needed to get over her own issues. Shortly after the Castor incident, everything had been okay. By now she was feeling guilty. She had known about Shinjiro's problems with Castor and yet she had not intervened. Of course something was bound to happen. And then it had.

There was a heavy, textured hand on her shoulder, weighing her down. "Mitsuru… you okay?" Akihiko asked.

She nodded without smiling. "It is peculiar."

"No Shadows so far. Not a single one."

While there had been nights with few Shadows crawling the halls, it was the first time that, apparently, there were none around. They couldn't have disappeared like this. The Shadows would go out with a bang, or they would never leave the surface of earth. Keeping them inside the Dark Hour, and Tartarus, was enough of a job already. They really could need Shinjiro's help.

"We should be extra cautious today."

Akihiko nodded and bent his upper body around a corner, Evoker loosely held in his left hand. "Clear."

"Impossible." She sighed and followed him. She had no objections to letting him take the lead. There was more than a single reason to this, but it was best summed up by 'Akihiko's fists hurt'. Also, she had an easier time trying to sense the Shadows when she wasn't in constant danger of having one jump down her throat and rip her to shreds. "I don't feel anything."

He spoke without turning around. "What's your plan if there's no Shadows tonight? Will we just leave?"

Truth to be told, she had never taken into account such a possibility would exist. Now that she was confronted with it, she wished for more time. She would need it to rinse and repeat the information until she could be certain her conclusions would be about right.

"We will…"

"Sh!" Akihiko extended his right arm.

Mitsuru stopped. Then she could feel it. A Shadow. "Ah." It wasn't a big one, no, just a regular one. They had fought this type quite a few times already and barely had problems with them anymore. Sometimes unfortunate actions led to complications, but it was better this way. At least they wouldn't forget this was a life or death mission if weak Shadows endangered them once in a while. Luckily, both of their first aid skills had vastly improved over the past months.

"Let's fight!" Akihiko charged for the Shadow. The creature dodged effortlessly, and without making a sound.

Eerie, Mitsuru thought. They usually did make a lot of noise while moving around. "Wait a minute, Akihiko."

"What is it now?" He was already holding the Evoker to his head.

"Something is off." The Shadow was as off from his type as Akihiko was as off from himself during the day, Mitsuru mused. Like a metaphor the Shadow was crawling around Akihiko's feet silently. This type was usually weak to ice – but her analysis didn't say so. It didn't say anything at all. A bad sign, but Akihiko's attempts at punching the Shadow were futile and he was starting to stagger backwards and stumble over the Shadow's body. Mitsuru made a decision.

The grip on her Evoker tightened. "Dodge now, Akihiko!" She pushed the Evoker's muzzle against her temple and used it. Her Persona appeared, sending Bufu onto the opponent without a moment's hesitation.

Her fingers froze, the Evoker still held to her head. From the corner of her eyes she saw that they turned blue. Her heartbeat sped up. She felt like deaf when Akihiko called her name. While she could hear him, the sound was muffled. The world turned blurry, then very crisp. She couldn't move her eyes.

I'm frozen, Mitsuru thought.

Akihiko must have realized this as well. His eyes widened and he stared at her like he'd been frozen, too. She tried opening her mouth to tell him that he should watch out. The Shadow was still there, it hadn't fled. He was apparently too mesmerized to understand her silent warning. Damn it.

The Shadow started dancing. Its legs and arms were limp bonuses to its body that were thrown around without following any rhythm. The rest of its body swayed to a song no one but itself could hear. Mitsuru knew what the Shadow's next move would be. It was one her own Persona could use as well, although it proved to be inefficient most of the time. She didn't use it often for that reason. Not many Shadows had used it on her team so far. The information about the probability to be successful was sketchy at best.

The Shadow opened its mouth. Pink dust surrounded Akihiko. A heart-shaped cloud made him invisible for – Mitsuru could only guess. Seconds if she wanted to be realistic, though hours seemed more likely right then.

Finally the cloud vaporized. Akihiko was standing there like he had before the attack had hit him. Maybe a bit more confused. He was turning his head left and right, looked down on himself as if to check if everything was still in place.

Mitsuru sighed inwardly. It had not been successful. They stood a chance against their enemy. If only the ice holding her would melt already, she thought. Wishing was for imbeciles after all.

Akihiko lifted the Evoker and shot himself into the forehead. Pollux produced lightning even as it only made its entrance. The Shadow tilted its head. Its arms waggled aimlessly beside its chest. Pollux' Zio hit it straight in its awry face. The Shadow screamed.

The scream was piercing the air. The ice around her cracked, then fell. She raised her sword and as the Shadow stumbled backwards, she charged. Another scream. She gritted her teeth.

It was over.

Mitsuru walked over to Akihiko and Pollux which was still with him. The Persona was frowning at him, if her eyes didn't betray her. She put her hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, and fell to his knees. That was by far answer enough. The spell had apparently worked? It hadn't seemed like it moments ago. Mitsuru looked up at Pollux. The Persona shrugged. Her eyes definitely did work then. She couldn't do more than gape as Pollux disappeared before she could find out how this was even possible.

She pulled Akihiko's arm over her shoulder and aided him back to stand. "We should go back. It's too dangerous tonight."

Akihiko didn't protest. His eyelids drooped. He was fatigued. After only one fight, even though it had been an unexpectedly hard one… oh, she could examine him when they were back home. Another one of rule-breaking Shadows would certainly be too much for either of them.

She dragged him out of Tartarus. There he said that he could walk on his own. She opened her mouth to disagree, but closed it without voicing her opinion. Walking side by side, they left Tartarus behind.


End file.
